Another week, and a full day of testing

So this week wasn't too bad. We started in in cooking at the beginning of the week by making a tomato soup which we had to make up the recipe for. This was mainly because there were extra vegetables that he didn't want to go bad, but also to see where we are and if we are able to create our own soups without a recipe. I think everybody did well on the test, however I do know he said his head was numb after tasting someones soup which had about half a cup of paprika in it!

The rest of the week we also worked on vinaigrettes, and eggs (scrambled, fried, and a review of poached). With the vinaigrettes we also learned how to mix a salad properly (putting the dressing on the bottom of the bowl and the salad on top, then mix with your hands so the whole salad gets dressed without weighing it down with the dressing). On Wednesday we had a quiz/test on theory because the chef got the impression that we collectively had NOT been doing the reading. After that test he gave us a practical exam which meant making one egg- scrambled, fried, and poached. Then make a balsamic honey vinaigrette and a salad to go with it-- mixing the salad in front of him to show we know how to.

Now, this would have been all well and fine (and it was, I believe I did very good) but then in the afternoon we had a test in baking as well. The chef gave us a sheet with recipes we had done in class and we were told to go to work. The recipes were tart from scratch (with flangipan sp? filling --an almond based cream), a butter cake, and macaroons. Now you have to understand that the macaroons use food coloring so at the end of the class most of the students were covered in green or yellow, or red. I worked SO hard to keep myself clean of all those colors (which I think helped my overall grade) Also, some people didn't get to bake off their tarts because they were finished too late and there wasn't enough time to let them bake. We also didn't bake off our macaroons (apparently, unlike cooking, you can tell how the finished product is going to come out based on how it looks before it goes in. Or perhaps he wasn't interested in that as much as procedure as the chef always puts everything in the oven anyways). I got an A.

Tomorrow I plan to pick up my tart, which I was able to bake but was not able to bring home because it was too hot when we left for the day.